Infographic: 2011's Worst Hacking Scandals

I recently reported on Verizon's 2012 Data Breach Investigation Report, and how the report highlighted the growing trend of hacking for a political or other cause - "hacktivism". But those cases aren't the only security breaches, or even the majority of security breaches, taking place.

Background Check has compiled a list of some of the biggest hacking cases in recent history, cases where significant economic damage was done or where large numbers of users' personal information was taken.

A couple of cases stand out for me. The Google hacking by the Chinese woke the world up to the massive undertaking by China to hack, well, everyone. By coming forward and being honest about the security breaches, Google made it easier for companies and the U.S. government to take needed precautions. Also, the AOL case where AOL Research accidentally posted millions of web searches publicly. That spawned plenty of funny online posts and revealed more about what humans are really interested in searching for online than any survey ever could.